Clue: A game to die for
by T1gerCat
Summary: Receiving anonymous invitations for a weekend in a secluded mansion a group of people sign up for a weekend of celebrations. Instead they find themselves taking roles and parts they did not expect. How can they win in a game they don't know they are playing?
1. The Guests

Chapter 1 - The Guests

It was a warm night and Mrs. Lockwood couldn't believe her luck; not only was she a guest at the famous Tudor Mansion, but she was also handpicked to be there having received an envelope in the mail.

"Tonight is going to be truly wonderful"

said Mrs. Lockwood as she applied her expensive perfume. Mrs. Lockwood was a cold fish and took enormous pride in her appearance and how she presented herself to others. She would be seen in all sorts of expensive clothing and fancy jewellery - in fact, many have said they've never seen a day when Mrs. Lockwood didn't look her best.

Some may say that Mrs. Lockwood cared more about herself than anything else, but she'd like to think otherwise. She had a son she liked despite his choice to stay with his father and she didn't quite hate the teenage girl that slept in the room next to hers and was now wasting space in her room.

"It really is"

Caroline Forbes agreed. The blond teenager was sitting on the window seat of the room not quite sure how to feel that she was invited in the Mansion but had no idea as to who had invited her.

She had gotten an envelope in the mail the day after she had chosen to move away from her home town and to pursue her dreams of acting. Ironically the film she had been cast in had her was a vampire romance. Who better than a vampire for the role of one?

Although Mrs.. Lockwood and Caroline Forbes were both hailing from the same picturesque small town, both descendants of the founding families, they were very different and it wasn't because of their species.

Mrs. Lockwood was more driven by wealth and power; Miss Forbes was more interested in fame and men. Yet they both really loved the finer things in life.

"It seems like quite a nice night outside tonight, the summer has certainly gotten here just in time for this holiday"

Caroline said still looking outside the window, pushing a blind tendril away from her eyes.

"Yes...well I think that this vacation came just in time"

Mrs. Lockwood agreed. She had promised Caroline's mother she would keep an eye on her for the duration of this holiday.

"Are we ready?"

Her question, spoken at a barely civil tone elicited a smile of Caroline

"Almost..."

She turned around and scanned for her handbag, the small red purse of hers was always moving when she needed it the most.

"Where's my bag?"

As Miss Forbes looked near the old dressing table near the window where she had left it earlier. Something caught her eye - in fact, since she appeared in the window Miss Forbes felt eyes on her and after her numerous encounters with watchful men, she knew when someone had their eye on her. She looked outside the window, though her view was restricted by the darkness she saw a figure in the far corner of the Mansion yard - "could be a tree?" said Caroline's mind to her...mind.

"There it is..."

Interrupted Mrs. Lockwood with the purse that Miss Forbes had temporarily forgotten she'd lost

"Oh...thank you"

Caroline took the clutch purse from Mr Lockwood's hand and turned back around to have a glance outside the window to see that figure one last time. No one was there...the figure had mysteriously disappeared.

"Well are you coming?"

said an impatient Mrs. Lockwood - although curious, Miss Forbes had to put the figure to the back of her mind, as she had meal to attend and she was certain that it was probably just bad lighting...

Major Jasper Whitlock was a good title. Sure, it wasn't his official name anymore, but he truly did miss it. Adjusting back to civilian life wasn't easy and the thirst that drank his insides every day, all day.

Right now, he was enjoying the vacation whilst he could before putting some thought into how he'd blend with humans again. Jasper scanned the dining room of the Mansion - it was sure something, the room itself was well and the luxury decor just made it all the more magical.

Jasper had heard a lot about Tudor Mansion, but he had never wanted to fully experience it; that being said, he never thought he'd get the chance considering everything. Yet when he saw the white envelope with the golden letters, he was too curious to not accept.

Jasper's thoughts were interrupted by the presence of two well dressed ladies. One of them was older, human and dressed in blue; the other younger, a similar species to him and dressed in a scarlet dress. But there was no denying their beauty.

The older lady walked with a slight strut and seemed a lot more confident than the younger one; she glanced over at Jasper, and glanced away as she was seated alongside the younger girl. The vampire glanced towards Jasper, but seemed to linger towards him for several seconds, their similar species creating a spark that they both felt.

A hungry smile lit his lips, causing her to smile back.

Eventually the young vampire joined the human lady and sat down, but continued to share hungry smiles with Jasper every so often. Luckily the woman didn't smell appetizing at all.

Jasper felt a sudden urge for his food come over him - he had been waiting for almost ten minutes now and he had been saving his hunger for this meal...this late meal.

Jasper got to his feet and walked towards the doorway which he figured would be the kitchen, as the smell of food and the noise of cookery were quite distinctive. He walked through the door and saw... not the kitchen.. but a small kitchenette, which seemed to be pretty small for such a large house. Jasper glanced around, the sound of cookery and the smell of food wasn't coming from this room, it was coming from the stairs in the middle of the room. Of course! The kitchen was down here.

He placed his foot on one step, the creaking noise seemed louder than ever as he didn't intend on just barging into the kitchen, so he thought he'd take it slow down the stairs. The stone floor seemed miles away from where Jasper was stood, but he could only count several steps. he proceeded to walk down the stairs.

The large Kitchen smelt amazing, the stench of different foods made Jasper's stomach groan all the more. And so did the large pot where the most appetizing smell of them all came

"We're having a delay on dinner... It will be ready in a short while..."

explained Bella Swan. She was a little flustered, sure she'd made countless dinners and meals for guests of the Mansion, but she'd never had to do it without a sharp knife before. She still had no idea where that knife had gone, but she knew that she'd have to get another if she wanted meals to be prepared properly.

The well groomed young man left the kitchen and returned to the Dining room - thank God! Bella Swan wasn't just feeling flustered about the missing knife, she was also facing the prospect that she couldn't do things as quick as she used to. Besides this was the first time she was in the Mansion without the older servants. The elusive Mr. Boddy had fired them all except the Butler and had given the posts to the "young blood" as he had put it

She had worked for Mr. Boddy at the Tudor Mansion practically all of her life. she was the Nanny's daughter and had grown up in the mansion helping the Cook and the maids. now she had decided to work there till it was time for college

She continued to stir the pot of stew on the stove and began adding different ingredients to get that extra nice flavor to it. As she began making her stew to perfection by adding a single drop of her blood, Bella felt a cold chill suddenly flow over her from the right - it was the wind. The door upstairs must have been opened, Bella Swan was sure it was the well-groomed... thing. Red eyes spelled no human, a simple browse of the library told her as much despite having met only humans in her life.

She left her stew for the moment and headed upstairs to see what had happened. As Mrs. Swan arrived at the small kitchen area, she noticed the backdoor was swinging open as though someone had just run through the Mansion at the speed of light.

"That's odd..."

She murmured. She walked over to the door and looked outside, before quietly saying

"Hello?"

Bella had no idea why she said it so quietly, maybe she was nervous about what the response may be? She wasn't scared of many things but with the dawn of the dead at the Mansion she thought she'd better keep a hold to her mortality.

she slammed the door shut and locked it tightly, she took one last glance into the Tudor Mansion yard before returning to the kitchen to continue her stew.

The Dining room looked pretty full now, there were the two glamorous women sat in one corner, the young soldier type had returned to his seat and Reverend Cullen, who was quite popular for his hard, charity work was seated in the center of the room.

How could Dr Klaus forget his _friend_...or...his adopted friend who was sitting right beside him Professor Masen.

The good Professor was babbling on and on about his ex-employer's and how unfair it was being able to be him and having his gifts and Klaus would gladly drive a white oak stake into his own chest if it meant shutting the idiot up.

Klaus wasn't really listening. He had important business to attend to... Namely a good relaxing hour in the bath after this meal. Maybe a bite out of the lady in blue for dessert.

"I just think life is so hard..."

Said Professor Masen. Klaus had regretted asking him if he was okay and if he was enjoying his stay...he was just being polite. Klaus looked at Edward Masen and said

"I agree with you, my friend...now I must dash, I won't be long..."

He got to his feet and left the roof doing his best to maintain a human pace, hoping the Professor wasn't offended. Not that he really cared but avoiding enemies wasn't easier said than done. Klaus really wanted to relax...he had a job to do; he had prepared for this visit for too long to let an emo angsty sorry excuse of a vampire to ruin it for him.

As Klaus arrived at his room, he opened the door and slipped inside his room like a shadow in the night - he loved his room, it was relaxing and gave him time to think. He headed towards the bathroom on the landing of his room and began washing his face in the luxury, crystal sink.

This visit had to be prefect, he had his heart set on it for some time and he was sick to death of his distractions.

After wiping his face he felt a sudden uncomfortable feel, like a thousand eyes were looking at him at once and not in a lusty way. He glanced around the small bathroom and saw... nothing, nothing alarming anyway. As he left the bathroom to return to his comfortable room, he started looking around - why did he feel so uncomfortable?

The silence filled the room and contributed to the uncomfortable atmosphere that had overcome Klaus just now. If that wasn't enough, a small creek was heard from the oversized closet which contained most of his expensive belongings.

Klaus' whole body froze, he didn't know whether to run towards the closet, or whether to leave the room and call for help, or whether to just stand completely still...

He was a freaking original vampire, changed over a thousand years ago, and here he was about to scream like an extra in a bad slasher flick.

He flung the closet doors open and was greeted by...

"Oh my god..."


	2. The Discovery

Chapter 2 - The Discovery

Laughter filled through the room, it was the laughter of people who were getting slightly tipsy. Edward could see that and he could definitely smell it in the people in the room. It was annoying how everything even thought of the meal they just had (variation of blood for the vampires in the room and veal for the lone human) and the drinks they were now having.

He knew they were drunk, yet they did seem to be having... fun? He still would have loved to rant about his gifts and how hard it was that vampire Doctor; he seemed quite rude to rush off like that.

The laughter got louder, and the human got to her feet and turned towards him. she looked around the room like some sort of teacher addressing a class.

"I think we should all go to the living room to get to know each other"

She said. Edward wasn't best fond of socializing, but whilst it was a holiday, he thought it best be polite to accept, especially as the other guests seemed quite excited about the prospect of getting to know each other better. Their thoughts were a inebriated, hopeful mess.

As all of them got to their feet, Edward looked at the guests and they were all smiling at him politely including him in their thoughts. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea? As the guests entered the Study, they began heading towards different chairs and seats.

"Would any of you like a stiff drink?"

Asked the warm spoken, human Butler. Most of the guests nodded and off he walked, probably to the kitchen to fetch what the guests wanted. The good reverend Cullen was delighted. He rarely socialized, what with his feeding habits being so drastically different than the rest of his kind.

The guests seemed quite nice so far; many of them had their own unique personalities considering there were so few of them. Of course, Reverend Carlisle Cullen rarely felt any kind of hostility or bad feeling towards anyone. He loved and accepted people for who they were no matter if they had sinned or did anything the Lord may not approve of. He didn't quite approve of the choice to feed from humans but he was content with keeping himself in his diet of animals. If anyone wanted to learn, he would teach them but he wasn't the kind of person that would poach people and force them his ways.

He smiled as the beautiful lady in the blue dress began looking round at them. The red eyed, well groomed vampire next to the Reverend spoke first

"So what's the occasion?"

He asked. No occasion needed as far as Reverend Carlisle was concerned, but he observed all the same.

"I just thought seen as we're all here in this giant Mansion we should take the time to get to know each other"

Stated the woman in blue - she seemed very confident. It unnerved him slightly.

"My name is Carol Lockwood..."

She continued with pride; she then turned slightly to the left and the young beauty that was sitting there leaned forward.

"My name is Caroline Forbes"

The blonde vampire seemed to be of the weaker kind thought Carlisle. Her clear blue eyes traveled around the room and as they set on someone, Carlisle followed her eyes and saw that the young man who spoke earlier seemed very much besotted with Miss Forbes. Reverend Cullen decided it was his turn

"My name is Reverend Carlisle Cullen"

He said as he got to his feet to address everyone in a proud manor. He took a little bow, and sat back down again, as he did, Professor Masen pointed towards the Reverend

"Aren't you the same Reverend Cullen who raised over seventy million dollars for the homeless children's charity earlier this year?".

Reverend Green looked positively delighted, he smiled and if vampires could blush, he would as he nodded and replied

"Yes, that was me, I had to do something for those children, what goes in is just horrible..."

As the Reverend returned to his seat, Jasper felt he should follow in the Reverend's footsteps and got to his feet as he said

"I'm Major Jasper Whitlock."

Jasper glanced around at the guests, his eyes catching Caroline's amused and utterly unimpressed ones. Jasper tried not to make complete eye contact with her, so he quickly sat back down and didn't look back towards that direction. Shortly after Jasper finished speaking, Professor Masen stepped forward and said quietly

"My name is Edward Masen; I'm just enjoying the vacation..."

Edward didn't want to go into detail about his back-story. He had no quirky little tidbits to tell the others and was hardly social generally, so he felt that he was best keeping it brief. He saw Mrs. Lockwood nod her head at him in an approving manor, this must have meant she approved of whatever it is he said, or of how he looked.

"The guests would like some brandy..."

said the Butler to Miss Swan. Bella was getting ready to return to her room, she was feeling tired and really deserved an early night.

"That doesn't surprise me. As long as they're not gang feeding of the lone human up there"

She said. The Butler grinned opting not to voice his thoughts that he hardly believed Mrs Lockwood would taste well (the woman did seem quite bitter) and accepted the liquer.

He smiled as he pressed a kiss on Bella's forehead and proceeded to leave the room. just then, the skinny, dark blond haired teenager that was a recent hire to take care of the massive gardens, came walking down the stairs of the kitchen. Unlike Bella, Mike seemed to hate every single thing about Tudor Mansion and most of the guests who come to visit.

"They want Brandy huh?"

he snarled as he looked at the Butler and Bella. he moved forwards in the kitchen and Bella felt she could break the slightly awkward silence that was going on since he had entered the room.

"Yes, what are you looking for Mike?"

she asked politely. She didn't quite dislike him although his over the top attitude made her uneasy most of the time. Especially since the rest of the servants had been dismissed and it was just the three of them. Mike glanced around the room and began scratching his head.

"I'm trying to find a spare set of keys..."

he said, Bella was confused, what would he need a spare set of keys for?

"What for?"

asked The Butler, who had clearly read Bella's mind.

"It seems that someone has locked the front gate with the old padlock"

Mike said. Bella and The Butler exchanged confused glances; the Mansion gate hadn't been padlocked in many years, not since guests began staying at the manor for a vacation.

"I wasn't aware there is a key. Grandma said there was one but no one has seen it for years"

Bella was confused. Who would padlock the Mansion gate at a time when guests where visiting? Also, who else apart from The Butler, herself and Mike would know how to?

"Well you must find it and unlock it as soon as you can, Mike..."

said the Butler as he turned to leave the kitchen with the brandy for the guests. Mike began rooting through drawers and cupboards searching for the spare keys. Bella remembered her earlier feelings of being watched, hunted.

"Who would padlock the gate though?"

she asked, Mike didn't respond, he just continued to look through his belongings and replied

"I don't know, but whoever it is...they've made sure we're not getting out."

Mrs. Lockwood watched as the Butler placed the Brandy bottle onto the table in the middle of the room. There were mixtures of thank you from the guests, including herself as he left the room.

"Now then, let's pour ourselves a drink shall we?"

she said as she made her way towards the appetizing brandy bottle. Carlisle didn't drink, but he was happy to have a little sip of something a bit stronger than fizzy lemonade. The fizz usually kept his thirst at bay but he remained seated. He didn't want to seem to eager to want a drink of the alcoholic variety. Not when so many human drinkers were around. Mrs. Lockwood began pouring out glasses of brandy and started handing a glass to the guests in the room, she saw Edward Masen have a sneaky sip of his before she'd even managed to finish pouring Jasper Whitlock's glass. As everyone now had their glasses, she turned towards them and said

"Now then, I think a toast is in order."

Jasper glanced around the room; he felt he was being addressed by his teacher back in school. He smiled and awaited Mrs. Lockwood to continue her speech.

"Seen as we're all here for the same reason, I think we should all just say 'cheers' as we enjoy this luxury vacation and all its privileges"

she raised her glass in the air and just like sheep follow their Shepard, all the guests' glasses raised into the air as though obeying her command and movement.

"So..."

began Mrs. Lockwood but she was interrupted

"Wait!"

said Edward. all the guests turned to look at him.

"We're missing someone; we're not all here..."

he said. Mrs. Lockwood glanced around at the other guests and said

"Well whoever are we missing?".

Edward was surprised no one had noticed, but he had noticed which was enough

"Klaus isn't here"

he said; realization seemed to flood over some of the guests face's, although Mrs. Lockwood seemed to be rather irritated that her speech and toast had been interrupted.

"Seems wrong for us to toast without him..."

Edward finished.

"He's right..."

Jasper agreed. The constant self pity Edward emanated was enough to irritate him and if he'd be appeased by the reappearance of the lucky fellow that had escaped...

"Well we must go and get him..."

Carlisle agreed politely. His reason was similar to Jasper's only instead of shutting Edward up he was itching to drink his brandy, although he hid it well.

"I'll go, I won't be long..."

Edward jumped on his feet and placed his brandy glass on the table and walked off towards Klaus's room. He remembered exactly what room it was, as he caught a glimpse of Dr Klaus entering it when he checked in this morning.

Edward walked down the corridor of the Tudor Mansion until he arrived at Dr Klaus's room. He gently rapped the door. When no response was given Edward decided it wouldn't be rude of him to knock harder, as Klaus clearly hadn't heard him.

Edward stood still for several moments and still heard nothing from the other side of the door - he was sure Dr Klaus hadn't left due to the fact that he'd have seen him leave by now for sure. Was it instinct? The busy body inside of Edward popping out to say hello? Or was it just his caring nature that made Edward suddenly decide to try and see if the door was open? He wasn't sure what he'd find, but if Klaus was offended at him for just walking in, he was sure that he'd realize he was simply checking he was alright.

Edward placed his hand on the doorknob and began turning it, as he did the door opened with a slight creek - the room was still and the silence from the corridor and the room itself gave Edward the chills, but he was brave enough to come this far. He stepped inside Klaus's room and began looking around - there was nothing, although the room was 100% still occupied by Dr Klaus, as there were a few things that clearly didn't belong to the room.

He began scouting the room, suddenly, in the corner beside the bed, Edward's eye became fixed on something, he wasn't sure what he was seeing, but a shoe seemed stuck in air, in fact the shoe seemed perfectly placed on someone's foot. A rush of thoughts began racing in Edward's mind, he expected Klaus to appear from the back of him and tap him on the shoulder, but Edward was curious about the shoe and... Someone's foot at the moment.

He stepped forward and as the full view of the foot, legs, body and head came into focus, it was clear what it was Klaus... on the floor. Edward gasped, he didn't know how to react, was he drunk? Was that why there were no thoughts coming from him? The silence was quite pleasant

"Klaus?"

He said as he moved towards the motionless body lying on the floor. He knelt down to try and wake him, but as he did, Edward saw a large bruise on Dr Klaus's forehead as though he had received a blow to the head at some point. The piece of metal pipe sticking out of the vampire's chest seemed to agree with that.

Edward's voice seemed to vanish. Klaus was dead and by the looks of things, this wasn't an accident unless he had somehow hit himself on the head and then fell on a random piece of pipe. it was murder. Edward got back to his feet and slowly backed away from the body of the good Doctor.

He then felt the rush of fear flow through him. if his heard could beat, it'd march its way out his chest. His frozen, dead chest. his head began spinning and his voice came back as he began yelling for help!

"HELP! HELP!"

He yelled as his feet began taking him back down the stairs to the other guests. As Edward appeared at the bottom of the stairs, the guests from the Living Room began pouring into the hallway, all of them looking at him with astonishment.

"Doctor...Doctor...Klaus..."

he gasped, the words couldn't leave his mouth. Jasper Whitlock stepped forward and said

"What's up mate?"

The words couldn't leave, how could you announce this? Edward announced it in the only way he could

"Doctor Klaus...is dead"

"Well... duh"

Caroline Forbes exclaimed causing the end of Carlisle's lips to curl momentarily and Edward to pin his red eyes on her

"He's been murdered!"


	3. A murderer amongst us

Chapter 3 - A Murderer Amongst Us

"What?!"

gasped Mrs Lockwood, as she looked on at the nervous, wreck of a man standing by the wooden stairs of Tudor Mansion.

"Murdered?"

confirmed Carlisle. He wasn't sure if he heard right, but he thought he'd just double check that it wasn't what Edward said. Jasper stepped forward to Edward and touched his shoulder

"What do you mean, Edward?"

Major asked quietly. Edward looked around at them all, his words just weren't leaving him, it was as though saying it out loud had crippled him, crippled him to the point where he could no longer explain himself.

"He's there... lying on the floor... he's dead..."

he stuttered and paused as he tried to explain what he had seen, Edward wished that he had a camera in his brain that could take the Tudor Mansion guests through what he had seen. As he was about to continue, The Butler appeared from the dining room along with a cute teenager.

Bella heard the commotion from the dining room along with the Butler, they thought it was best they check out what the fuss was all about

"What's going on?"

asked the Butler. The guests looked around at each other, each one waiting for the other to repeat what Edward Masen had just announced. The Butler and Bella glanced round at the guests

"Well?"

Bella said sternly. She wanted answers and the way the undead in the room looked like a bunch of preschoolers caught in the principal's office was annoying.

"Doctor Klaus Mikaelson is dead"

Mrs. Lockwood said gravely

"He's a vampire; did you just realize that means he's dead?"

Bella asked rhetorically causing Caroline to smirk before correcting the human teenager in the same way Edward had mocked her

"Has been murdered..."

Bella couldn't believe what she was hearing, how could he be? How did they know?

"Dead?!"

repeated the Butler; the white haired, elegant, elderly man looked startled, as though he was being confronted with his worst fear.

"How do you know?"

Bella asked. She was finding it all very difficult to believe. Mr. Boddy had pranked her with the same thing when she was little before educating her that vampires were already dead and that meant the man that would become her employer couldn't die again.

Silence fell over the guests, as they looked at each other with worried glances, Edward Masen spoke again

"...I found him..."

The redhead vampire gasped gently as he spoke. Clutching onto the silence that came from the teenager's mind as a life raft

"He's been...he's dead..."

He said, staring into the eyes of the Butler. The Butler felt a sudden discomfort in his stomach

"You're absolutely sure?"

he asked, just to be on the safe side. Edward looked down at the floor, then looked back at the kind old man, who had been nothing but pleasant to him since he arrived at Tudor Mansion.

"He's dead"

stated Edward; he couldn't stand any longer, Edward sat down, he didn't care where he landed, he just decided to sit down. As he felt himself sitting on the bottom of the stairs, Jasper Whitlock stepped towards him

"Where's his room?"

he asked, he said it in a gentle whisper.

"At the bottom of the first floor corridor..."

explained Edward, who felt several lumps making their way up his neck, as though some sort of snake was inside of him.

"I'm going up..."

said Jasper, he wanted to see Klaus's body, he wanted to make sure. It's not that he didn't believe Edward, the sheer fear he felt was convincing. it's just he needed to re-confirm with himself that what was happening was real and wasn't just some huge mistake.

"I'm coming with you"

said the voice of Miss Forbes, this is the first time she had addressed Jasper at all, they'd had glances and stares, but never actually spoken. Jasper wasn't sure how to act, he thought that his experience with seeing dead bodies would be better at handling this than Miss Forbes, who had possibly had no experience at all - still, he was quite prepared to have someone with him. As the pair stared at each other, Caroline felt the need to explain herself.

"My mother is a cop. She taught me first aid. If he's simply hurt I may be able to help..."

she said, not removing her eyes from looking into Jasper's. Jasper nodded and the pair walked up the stairs. Bella rolled her eyes at the flirting couple, not because they were flirting but because there was a dead person among them all.

"Come and sit in the living room, Edward"

said Reverend Cullen, kindly. He reached his arm out towards Edward; he responded and walked into the living room along with Mrs. Lockwood.

"I'm going to call the police..."

said the Butler, he turned around and stalked back through the dining room. Bella nodded her approval and biting her bottom lip followed him.

"Hey..."

the Butler stopped and turned towards her.

"You don't think...I mean...what's going on here?"

she asked, trying to make sense of the situation. The Butler had always made her feel better; his words of wisdom carried her through quite a few tough times. She respected him the same way she would her own grandfather, despite his reluctance in telling her his name. The wizard believed that names carried power and refused to let his known. He was the one who stuck her with the name Bella as opposed to her full name.

"What do you mean?"

asked the Butler, his eyes looked dazed

"Well...what was Mike saying in the Kitchen?"

she asked, she wondered if he even remembered.

"The gates are padlocked..."

she reminded The Butler

"There's no way out..."

she continued; it hit The Butler what point she was trying to make.

"If that's the case, then the thoughts in my head are becoming quite disturbing indeed"

replied the Butler, he turned around and began to walk again. Bella was confused. Did he mean what she thought he meant?

"What do you mean?"

The Butler stopped, he stood completely still for several minutes, then turned towards her again

"The gates are padlocked and someone's died... this all seems very planned to me... like someone has planned this"

he said. Bella nodded quietly. That was exactly what she was thinking as well. Then he turned and continued walking towards the kitchen. Bella took a moment to think about what he said.

Why would someone want to murder Klaus? Why would someone want to padlock the gates outside? What could be their motive for their actions? Bella wasn't scared, but the realization that there was a murderer in Tudor Mansion was making her a little unsettled. She decided to join the guests in the Living Room. Better keep a close eye on the suspects than hide from them.

Klaus was dead, his body lay motionless on the ground of his room; it was confirmed. Jasper had eve remove the pipe from Klaus' chest to make sure the vampire wouldn't jump alive. He thought he saw him breathing a couple of times, but Jasper was sure he was dead. He waited for Miss Forbes to confirm what he already knew, and she did

"Yep, he's dead alright"

Jasper placed his hands on his face and let out a deep sigh.

"This wasn't suicide either, or an accident unless he's the world's unluckiest fellow"

continued Miss Forbes; Jasper looked at her and then glanced back at the lifeless body on the floor

"I know..."

"How could this happen?"

Caroline was confused, she knew every guest and staff member in Tudor Mansion and none seemed like potential killers to her.

"I don't understand"

she said, hoping he'd respond.

"I don't either..."

he said as his eyes met Klaus' body again

"It can't be one of the guests; none of them have left the room..."

he said, not removing his view from the dead Doctor.

"That leaves...Miss Swan, The Butler and Mike..."

replied Miss Forbes, she looked around the room in hope of finding some sort of evidence to point her in the right direction. She couldn't see how a human could kill a vampire. Certainly not one old enough to breath a sense of power like Klaus did earlier at dinner.

"If only there was something..."

she said looking round, as she glanced at the floor, she felt Jasper's eyes on her; she met his eyes and the pair stared, just before she said

"...incriminating".

Their eyes didn't move; Jasper was the one who broke it by stepping forwards and kneeling to the floor towards Klaus.

"There must be something..."

said Jasper as he leaned over the body to look around for some sort of... dare he say it... clue. Yes, he felt like someone from Scooby Doo, but that's the best description Jasper had.

"Careful!"

Caroline shouted; it made Jasper jump slightly, but when he looked towards her, he saw her eyes staring at his sweater. It was covered in blood because he had leant over Klaus's body

"Ahh damn! I'd better change..."

he said, getting to his feet

"I'll come with you"

Caroline offered. Jasper felt himself smiling inside; he would like the company, especially when the company was that of an attractive female.

"Thanks"

he said; he glanced back at the body of the doctor and walked out of the room, followed by Miss Forbes and up to his room.


	4. Prevented Escape

Chapter 4 - Prevented Escape

Mrs. Lockwood was getting irritated, she wanted confirmation that Klaus was indeed dead and the staff at Tudor Mansion was annoying her. Bella Swan was just stood in the living room with the guests, whilst The Butler had vanished for some reason or other. She got to her feet and walked towards the teenage cook

"Excuse me little girl, I don't suppose we have any news on what the hell is going on around here?"

she asked, in her opinion, quite politely. Bella looked at Mrs. Lockwood, and replied

"Doctor Klaus Mikaelson has been found dead. Someone has killed him..."

Mrs. Lockwood rolled her eyes and changed the position of her foot, so that she was balancing on her left leg

"Yes, we know that, but what does it mean? Because I certainly haven't murdered him..."

she said, with a slight smile on her face. Bella was beginning to get annoyed with Mrs. Lockwood. She forced a smile and replied

"Until the police rule you out Mrs. Lockwood, you're a suspect."

Mrs. Lockwood's face dropped to the floor, she hadn't actually sat and thought about it - she was a suspect too, along with everyone else in the mansion.

"Suspect. I don't like that word kid"

she said, utterly disgusted. Bella kept her cool, she didn't care what Carol Lockwood liked or didn't like, and she knew her story and knew more about her than Carol would like her too

"We're all suspects, every one of us in this building"

Bella said looking round at Reverend Cullen and Professor Masen, who were seating in the armchairs infront of the fire, both nursing a drink. Mrs. Lockwood placed her hand on her hip and kept her lips firmly closed

"Suspects?"

said a shaky voice from the hallway. Bella recognized it; she turned and saw Mike in the hallway with a pair of garden pliers in his hand

"Oh...Mike, I've completely forgot..."

Bella took charge of the situation and stepped into the hallway. Mike was busy outside, so he had skipped Bella's mind

"One of the guests, Doctor Klaus Mikaelson He's dead..."

she explained, not bothering to explain she meant dead dead. Mike hadn't been trusted with the secret about the species of the guests for that weekend. Mike's facial expression changed, his eyebrows were raised and he glanced into the Living room at the guests.

"It's one of them lot..."

he said pointing into the Living room with the garden tools he held

"They're to blame..."

Mrs. Lockwood rolled her eyes and muttered

"Charming"

as she turned her back and returned to her seat.

"Telling you, it's one of them..."

Mike whispered to Bella's ear while taking a peek down her white vest at the lacy bra. Mike could have been right, but he was just as much of a suspect as the rest of the guests.

"Mike, how are you getting on with the padlock outside?"

she asked him taking a step back wishing she had worn a shirt under the vest. It was too hot to do so though and now she had to endure his looks. It was bad enough the guests were staring at her as if she was dessert!

She hoped if she changed the subject he would too. The whole "planned murder" theory was itching at her mind too much for her to care about whether it was right or not. Mike continued giving evil glances at the guests of Tudor Mansion as he replied

"No luck yet, I've got these pliers because it's the only thing that will break the soddin' lock"

"Well, make it a priority please Mike?"

she asked; he nodded and walked back out the door into the Mansion grounds again.

Jasper was trying to wash the stain out of the sweater, but the realization that it was too damp to wear wasn't sinking in. He had no change of clothes except the tank top which was underneath, so he'd have to keep that on for now. Miss Forbes spoke as he placed the jumper on his bed

"Come for a vacation and end up the suspect of a murder"

"I know, I wonder who would want to kill him?"

Caroline shook her head, as though disagreeing with what he had just said

"Truth is, psychos don't need an excuse to kill people. it's always in them, it's just moments rise when it comes out of them. Maybe we have some hunters among us"

she seemed pretty knowledgeable about this; Jasper looked at her and raised his eyebrows

"That's true..."

he said. Caroline couldn't take her eyes of Jasper, she'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't find him incredibly attractive; he was just her type, his budging muscles in his tank top were enough to make Caroline weak at the knees. If this were a different occasion, she'd probably have ripped his clothes off by now and have been handcuffing him to the bedpost. But on this occasion, for all Caroline knew, Jasper could be a killer.

Although she felt herself trusting that he wasn't, he seemed far too nice to be capable of murder, in fact Caroline was a little shocked he was a soldier, because he seemed very wet behind the ears in her opinion. Little did she know?

"I just want the police to get here... they'll solve this..."

said Jasper, as he looked down at the floor. Caroline felt herself feeling a little sorry for Jasper; she had no idea why, because she was in the same boat as him

"Hey, don't worry..."

she said as she stepped forward and grabbed hold of his hand

"It'll be alright, okay?"

she said reassuringly. Jasper smiled and squeezed her hand gently, he didn't expect her to grab hold of his hand. People usually run away from him when they saw his battle scars, so for her to show such kindness towards him, Jasper was getting smitten and he didn't even know her that well.

"Murder? Murder? At Tudor Mansion?"

Mike muttered as he walked towards the front gate of the mansion grounds. The night was quiet, except for a couple of owls who seemed to be communicating with each other. He could hear some crickets in the distance, but Mike was more than used to these noises.

He arrived at the front gate and glanced at the padlock, he had no idea why it was there, but someone had clearly been reckless with locking it.

"Probably the bloody I'm-too-good-to-tell-you-my-name Butler..."

muttered Mike; he grabbed hold of the padlock and began situating the pliers in the spot where they'd cut the easiest. As he was about to cut into the lock, he heard a loud rustling from the bush behind him. Mike jumped; he dropped the pliers onto the floor and spun around, quicker than he knew he could move.

"Hello?"

he asked, hoping that the animal, or whatever that had been moving in the tree would expose itself. Silence! Nothing happened, the bush had stopped moving, and the night silence had fallen again.

Mike was getting agitated now, he wasn't afraid, or at least he'd tell himself he wasn't afraid. He scoped around to see if he could see the pliers on the floor, they weren't in sight; he bent over and looked closely at the floor, they had vanished. Maybe they'd fallen in the bush?

Mike turned around and began looking around to see if the pliers would reveal themselves to him - this was typical, he really couldn't be bothered with all this, if SOME people would remember to leave keys where they should, this wouldn't happen.

Mike thought he saw something further under the bush, he got on all fours and began feeling the ground under the bush. Nothing! His temper was flaring now, he had no time for this! Plus the panic in him was starting to settle in, he was in the dark and not only that, he was alone... when someone had been murdered in the Mansion.

"Oh come on you stupid pliers..."

he said, looking round as to where they may have gone. As Mike got to his feet, he turned back to the gate and was startled by a dark figure stood in the way. Mike gasped!

"Shit!"

he said; as his heart started beating normally again, Mike took the time to look at the figure; it was someone cloaked, the fabric was dark, most likely grey or black and a hood covered most of the face.

"Hello there..."

said Mike, hoping for some reaction; the cloaked figure didn't move - Mike was starting to feel unsettled about all this; who was in that cloak?

"Look...if you're a guest then you should be inside...you're not allowed to wonder the grounds at night..."

protested Mike, he felt if he showed the dark figure some discipline it would know who's boss. Whoever it was. Whatever it was. The dark figure moved finally; it's arm raised up and through its cloak, it held up the pliers! Mike looked carefully

"They're mine. Give them to me"

he demanded, he had no intention of retrieving them himself, but he didn't want to show fear towards this hooded shadow. The cloaked figure didn't move, he stood firmly still, holding the pliers up as though challenging Mike to collect them himself

"Now listen here, you no good, little runt; if you don't drop those pliers on the floor right now, I will go and get the Tudor gun, how would you feel about that?!"

barked Mike; silence fell, he awaited some kind of reaction from the cloaked figure. He got it! The hooded shadow raised the pliers in the air and then threw them over the Tudor Mansion gate. Mike was furious!

"You little bastard."

he bellowed at the dark figure. As he was about to speak again, the dark figure suddenly began moving, it was walking towards him at a fast pace.

Originally, Mike wasn't going to back down, he stood firmly still, but then his instincts got the better of him. Mike began backing off slowly, he needed to get back to the Mansion, something wasn't right.

Mike turned and began running back to the front door. He wasn't sure if the cloaked figure was following him, but he knew that he had no time to turn around the Mansion quickly. As he landed on the porch, Mike glanced back around and saw nothing!

The figure had gone, was it in his imagination? Mike had no idea, but he was sure that whatever it was, that figure was chasing him to kill him. He also believed that it was also connected to Doctor Whatshistoes' death.

he needed to tell the others. As Mike was about to turn back around, he felt a knot tighten around his neck; breathing became a struggle and when Mike placed his hands where the pain was coming from, he felt a tight rope wrapped around his neck - it got tighter and tighter

Mike fell to his knees in hopes that the tight pressure around his neck would loosen, but it wasn't. He glanced up and saw the hooded figure now towering over him; the face of the figure was freakishly pale and its eyes were scarlet red, like most of the guests.

As Mike began to lose sight and felt himself falling into what seemed to be a painful, deep sleep. He couldn't help but snarking to himself that that wouldn't have happened if someone had returned the keys for the padlock.

Mike was now motionless and the hooded figure let go of the rope; the body of the Tudor Mansion gardener fell to the floor, cracking its skull on the stone steps of the mansion porch.

The killer had striked again...


	5. Realization

Chapter 5 - Realization

Jasper and Caroline returned down the stairs of the Mansion and into the hallway

"Well?"

asked Bella Swan. The human teenager was sitting on the arm of a sofa, trying to ignore the way Edward Cullen was staring at her. As she spoke, the rest of the guests all got to their feet and walked into the hallway to join Jasper and Caroline. The pair of them paused, until Caroline broke the silence

"He's dead. Definitely"

Mrs Lockwood placed her hand over her mouth in shock, as though the whole world would be glaring at her fillings.

"So it's true..."

confirmed Carlisle, who then glanced back at Edward who was sniffing the air around Bella making the white clad teenager slowly put distance between them. Carlisle put a restraining hand on Edward's arm stopping him from intching closer to Bella.

"We need to call the police..."

said Jasper. Bella responded.

"There are no cellphone antennas in the area. The Butler is making the call as we speak"

Jasper stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. They looked like a salt shaker Carlisle thought, Jasper clad in black and Bella dressed in white shirt and vest.

"Okay, so what's taking so long?"

Mrs Lockwood piped in. They hadn't heard from the elderly man in quite a while.

"He keeps disappearing here and there..."

Carlisle agreed. Bella frowned at him, she would have expected a man of the cloth to not be so quick to cast suspicions on anyone, despite the popular saying "_the Butler did it_".

"What are you saying? That he's responsible for this?"

She demanded. She knew that was what they were saying, but she just wanted them to confirm it for her first. Mrs Lockwood raised her eyebrows and then started laughing

"Oh I could just imagine the headlines now - The Butler Did It!"

she said with a harsh chuckle behind her sentence. Caroline glared at the older lady. She didn't know her all that well, but she was showing very nasty behavior from where she was standing; someone had been murdered and it wasn't something to laugh or joke about.

"I suggest we all return to the Living Room and wait for the Butler to return with news..."

Carlisle suggested before Mrs. Lockwood could say anything else to provoke Miss Swan. Using the arm he had put on Edward, he steered the younger man away from the appetizing Miss Swan and to the vast living room.

Mrs. Lockwood sighed and followed the pair into the Living room; Jasper took this opportunity to talk to Bella and Caroline stood by him once more.

"So...what's the actual story?"

whispered Jasper to Bella. In turn, she threw a look at the three occupants of the living room and led the two vampires back to the dining room.

"Well, as far as I'm aware the Butler has gone to call the police. The nearest station is about an hour away however so..."

she trailed shrugging one shoulder. Caroline realized what she left unsaid and nodded.

"Mike, the gardener is outside trying to take off the padlock from the gate..."

Bella continued her mental check list of who was were, doing what. Jasper felt his mouth drop open - padlock?!

"What do you mean?"

he asked;

"What padlock?"

Caroline asked. Bella sighed and looked around her to check there was no one else near them. She knew privacy was an illusion with so many vampires under one roof.

"Earlier, Mike came into the kitchen and told us that for some reason the front gate was padlocked, which is something that hasn't happened in years"

she started, as she spoke Jasper and Caroline leaned forward.

"He said that there was no key, so he was searching for it. He went outside several minutes ago with pliers to cut it open"

she finished - Jasper was struck, had someone planned this?

"Why would someone want to padlock the main gate?"

asked Caroline, she was quite shocked at what she'd been told. Jasper looked at her wondering if the peroxide had gone to her brains. The answer to that was quite simple and obvious

"Because that's our only way out of here"

he explained. Bella nodded understanding completely and agreeing with every word.

"Is he out there now?"

asked Jasper. Bella nodded and began walking towards the front door. She knew Jasper and Caroline would follow her

"He'll probably be complaining about something along the way"

She joked hoping to lift some tension. Bella opened the double front doors and began scoping to see Mike from a far. Garden lights lit along the stone path that led to the gates and then the street and she squinted her eyes to see better. Caroline with her far better vision spoke

"Erm...what is that?"

she asked. Bella turned to see what she was looking at, she followed her eyes and saw lying on the grounds was Mike!

"Oh my god!"

Bella gasped and rushed towards him with Jasper and Caroline hot at her heels. Caroline held her back as Jasper crouched over the fallen teenager.

"Mike..."

he said softly although he was unable to hear a heartbeat or even feel anything. Jasper looked at the state of the gardener, he saw that the body had a large red wound around his neck; it was as though something had been wrapped around and had been twisted to stop the teenager from breathing.

"What happened to him?"

asked Caroline, in a shaky voice holding a shaken Bella in her hands. Jasper didn't respond as he scanned the area for something to shed light on what had happened to Mike. The answer was lying beside Mike, just above where his head was. A length of a rope. it was thick and would sure strangle a human with some force.

"He's been strangled"

he said quietly . Caroline gasped and Bella didn't say a word. She stood motionless, barely aware of Caroline's arms holding her upright, staring at the lifeless man. Jasper couldn't feel anything coming from her besides shock. Maybe some remorse as well.

Bella run her hands over her face feeling suddenly cold. She hadn't liked Mike a lot but seeing him like that... It was unfair. Sure he had been grumpy some times, or a creep in his "let me follow you everywhere and be your human puppy" way but he was dependable and honest.

She wasn't aware of the tears that fell down her cheeks until a red tipped finger wiped them back. The move seemed to jump start some life inside her and her voice was hoarse as she spoke.

"Are there any pliers nearby?"

Jasper searched around, he couldn't see any

"Why?"

"Because those pliers are the only thing that would break the padlock".

She said simply, her wet brown eyes looking deeply in his dark red ones willing him to understand her thoughts without her having to express them.

A horrible, unsettling realization sunk inside of Jasper at the unspoken words. he had thought of it since the chat in the dining room, but he couldn't act on it as it wasn't completely sure.

Padlocked inside the Tudor Mansion, two peopled murdered and only the only way of getting out was now missing. it was too coincidental for Jasper's liking, all he knew was that they needed to call the police as soon as possible.

Caroline followed the collective train of thoughts

"This is some elaborate plan. We're all invited here and now we can't get out and there's two people dead. Someone's planned this and they'll probably have a lot more up their sleeve..."

she exclaimed.

"We need to tell the others..."

Mrs. Lockwood was pacing the Living room like a deranged woman; you'd think she had somewhere to be the way she was acting.

Edward hadn't really recovered from seeing Klaus' body yet. He had seen many bodies in his existence, most of them created by him and the sight had begun to nag at him. On top of that he couldn't get the extremely appetizing scent of the young cook out of his mind. Thankfully, Carlisle was talking to him about his way of feeding and it sounded... disgusting. But if it'd help him feel better, Edward was willing to be a part of a better species than just a common human eater.

Carlisle was talking Edward's ear off, happy to have found someone willing to listen to his views. Plus he hadn't liked the sheer predatory look his new companion had given Miss Swan and so he hadn't released Edward from his hold.

Just then, Jasper Whitlock, Caroline Forbes and Bella Swan came rushing into the living room, they stood still in the doorway as all eyes were on them. Carlisle's hold on Edward's arm got firmer as he noticed Bella holding onto Jasper's arm while Caroline's hand was wrapped around Bella. The teenager was as pale as any of the vampires in the room and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Well?"

Mrs. Lockwood asked impatiently paying no attention to how the three people stood. Jasper walked forward and stood in front of the fireplace, as though addressing them like a set of school children. It was obvious he had elected himself as their leader considering his military background. Neither Edward nor Carlisle liked that very much.

"We've...we've discovered something and I don't think you're going to like what I'm going to say..."

Jasper voice was clear although he kept his head to the ground. Carlisle got to his feet holding Edward down with one hand and Mrs. Lockwood stepped forward, hanging on to Jasper's every word

"The front gate outside is padlocked..."

Jasper said, raising his head and look at the other guests

"We don't know why, it just is. That means there is no way of us getting out of here; there was a way and that was through Mike, the gardener and the pliers he had to break open the gate"

continued Jasper. Even though Caroline already knew this, her nerves were shooting lie crazy. Her left arm tightened around Bella seeking support as well as offering it

"Trouble is... Mike has been murdered"

Jasper announced. Mrs. Lockwood gasped and Edward shook Carlisle's hand off him and stood as well.

"What's more, the pliers to break the padlock are missing..."

Jasper continued; before he could finish, he was interrupted

"Two?! That's two murders?!"

Edward exclaimed. He seemed to be finding this very hard to take in.

"Yes and it seems that something is happening here tonight."

Jasper frowned at the excitement he could feel through Edward as spoke

"What are you saying?!"

Edward asked irritably. The blond man kept his thoughts well hidden behind layers of war books and it annoyed Edward that he knew how to do that. Caroline's thoughts were flying all over and there was blessed silence from the dessert in the middle of the two vampires.

"He's saying that it seems as if someone is planning on killing us and they've made sure as hell that we can't leave the Mansion any time soon"

Bella spoke as plainly as she could.

"Whatever this person has planned, it seems that they can't afford us to leave just yet. I don't know what's going on here, but I know that we need to stick together from now on, because if we don't..."

Caroline finished trailing her words letting them fill the air.


	6. Double Murder

Chapter 6 - Double Murder

"I refuse to stay here!"

Mrs. Lockwood announced as she retreated to the hallway of Tudor Mansion. What Jasper had just said seemed to have hit a nerve with her

"Mrs. Lockwood..."

said Carlisle reasonably; Mrs. Lockwood pretended she couldn't hear him, she continued to walk towards the stairs.

"Carol!"

shouted Caroline Forbes; she managed to get her attention, Mrs. Lockwood stopped and turned towards her.

"I refuse to stay here...when there's someone around us that..."

Carol's bottom lip quivered. Caroline shook her head and leaned forward

"You don't understand. We need to stick together"

Mrs. Lockwood tried to interrupt

"Yes, but..."

"No buts Carol! You really don't understand, if you walk away... you'll end up dead, you'll be butchered and you'll join the body count along with Klaus and Mike"

finished Caroline. Jasper nodded, he knew it was brutal, but it was the truth and Caroline was dealing with the realization quite well. Carol Lockwood smiled cockily and had no reaction to the fact she could be joining people on a death list. She placed her hand on Caroline's cheek and stroked it gently

"Caroline, my darling, you really don't know me at all".

With that, Carol turned and continued to walk upstairs. Caroline rolled her eyes and let her walk away. She had tried.

"Someone should go upstairs with her"

Carlisle suggested. The others glanced at him, Caroline half heartedly responded by rolling her eyes

"None of us should be alone"

Carlisle added hoping to shift some of the limelight onto to him. It wouldn't be a good idea for them to run off half cocked led by a former soldier. They needed to act and think logically. Bella nodded and pointed towards the stairs

"Maybe you should go Reverend"

Bella would suggest Caroline to go after Mrs. Lockwood since those two knew each other but Caroline seemed to be at the end of her personal rope and since Reverent Cullen suggested the action why not walk the walk? Talking is easy...

Carlisle blinked, not expecting the suggestion but then nodded and proceeded to walk up the stairs.

"I think we should go outside..."

Edward proposed. That was the first sane thing he'd said since finding Klaus' body.

"Why?"

asked Jasper, who was failing to see why they should leave the Mansion.

"The pliers may still be out there, we need to find them..."

said Edward, as he sniffled slightly. He had a point, Bella thought. That's what she had said earlier

"We already looked but it wouldn't hurt to look again"

Jasper replied after sharing a look with Bella and Caroline who added

"We could do with a flashlight though"

"There's one in the kitchen"

Bella responded

"I'll grab it and check on the Butler as well"

she headed towards the kitchen

"We'll wait for you in the garden. Be careful"

Jasper said waiting till she had left the room to breathe again. It wasn't enough the human smelled good, the collective thirst for her (especially Edward's) was getting to him. Opening the front doors he let the others step out to the clear night air.

Bella walked quickly down the stairs and to the kitchen. she hoped The Butler would be sitting on the stools trying to get hold of the police. he had been gone for some time though and Ella was worrying. His actions seemed quite suspicious to be honest and he did have some explaining to do, to her if not the guests or the police.

Stepping into the kitchen something caught her eye. it wasn't the Butler. it was the red stained marble floors. She wanted to believe it was Bolognaise sauce but the rusty smell made her dizzy

"Oh no..."

There was blood. On the kitchen floor. Slowly she circled the counter and was greeted by the Butler. he was on the floor and his body was propped up against the freezer.

Feeling bile rise in her throat she leaned in looking at the black thing on his throat. The Butler was stabbed and the knife was buried that far back that it was wedged inside the freezer.

"Oh my god!"

Bella gasped and rushed to empty her stomach in the sink. Andrew Wordswarth, the Butler, one of the kindest men in the world, had been killed in such a violent way.

Angrily she wiped her eyes and knelt near him. His clothes were stained in blood and for the first time in his life, he looked incredibly scruffy.

"I'm so sorry..."

she said as she sobbed into her hands. She was sorry... sorry that this had to happen to such a nice gentleman like him. He had no family of his own, but he an the rest of the Mansion's servants had formed a tight bond. Bella's grandmother was practically a sister to him and he was always a grandfatherly figure to her as well.

"He won't get away with it. Whoever did it Andrew, I promise you"

She whispered and got to her feet. she had to tell the others about this. She dried her eyes; she didn't want them to see that she'd been crying. The torch was in the drawer by the entrance and she took it before grabbing her purse from the back of the door and slung it across her body. Instinct ordered her to add a bottle of water in the bag with the torch.

Feeling a breath of cold air fluff her hair she turned and gasped! A dark figure was standing by the stairs. it was hooded but she could see a face underneath the hood. It was pale, paler than her, and had blood red eyes like most of the guests had. She swallowed.

"I take it you're responsible for this?"

she asked looking back at the corpse of her dear friend. The hooded figure nodded.

"Am I next?"

she asked placing her hand on her chest. The hooded figure nodded again. Sneaking her left hand behind her, she slipped it inside the drawer beneath the one that housed the torch.

"Come and get me..."

she taunted. Without warning, the killer charged at her. Bella's fingers curled around what she had been looking for. The cloaked killer grabbed hold of her and wrapped both hands around her neck.

He squeezed.

Bella was finding it hard to breath. She was counting backwards for the moment he'd think she was about to die. Exhaling she let herself fall to her knees and the killer relaxed his hold. Bella thrust the shape shifter tooth she held in the killer's chest. The cloaked figure fell back, a black glove clutching his chest.

She ran upstairs, tooth in hand still dripping. She thought she had a head start, but suddenly she felt something hit her ankles and incredible pain shot up her legs.

Bella's knees buckled and she would fall backwards if a hand didn't grab onto hers. Jasper was in front of her.

"Thought you were taking too long darlin'"

Bella raised a brow at the term but had no time to comment before Jasper pulled her behind him.

"Go"

Jasper walked down the stairs slowly; taking the hooded figure in. he tried not to take a breath. The large kitchen was drenched in blood and the person across from him didn't seem to mind it.

"Interesting cloak"

Jasper said. He couldn't be certain but the cut and color of the cloak was familiar to him. So was the golden and crimson crest on the fastening of the cloak. The hood tilted to the side as if the figure was contemplating the remark and then nodded. After that it charged at him. Jasper was skilled in battle ad was able to avoid the first attack.

A hand gripped around the back of his neck; before he could react he was turned around like a rag doll and thrown to the other end of the kitchen. His body broke the marble counter as he fell in a heap on the floor.

Jasper played dead for a minute, which wasn't so hard considering he was surprised he had been manhandled. A burning rose through his left arm. Gritting his teeth, Jasper rose to his knees and attacked.

The figure was expecting it and slipped to the side. Mid-attack Jasper followed suit and for a few minutes all that could be seen was a Taz the Tasmanian Devil blur as the opponents fought.

The Shifter tooth molded around the knife plunged straight through Jasper's heart. it quickly withdrew and stabbed again and again and again.

If Jasper had any sort of doubt on whether he had a soul or not, it would have been answered that moment. he felt his soul slowly draining, Before he took his last unneeded breath he ripped the cloak from the Killer. He smiled as he recognized the person underneath it.


	7. Deadly Chase

Chapter 7 - Deadly Chase

Mrs. Lockwood knew she was leaving; she'd dig her way out of the Mansion if she had to, and she didn't care. She was curious as to why the Reverend had accompanied her to the room when she was perfectly capable of doing it herself

"If you insist on being here, I suggest you help me pack, please fold up those jackets and place them in the suitcase please"

Her tone was closer to an order than a request, as though Carlisle was a member of staff rather than a guest himself. Still, he helped her pack, he was helpful and the situation at hand was enough to give him reason to be on his best behavior, even though Mrs. Lockwood was incredibly rude to him. He stepped forward and began folding up her jackets; she moved around the room and before he knew it, she yelled

"WAIT!"

Carlisle jumped out of his skin, the fact someone was murdered the guests was making him jittery as it was.

"What ever is the matter?"

he said, Mrs. Lockwood stepped forward with a stern look on her face.

"This is vintage"

she said, holding up a blue jacket

"Fold it with care..."

she snapped. Carlisle barely held himself back from rolling his eyes. If the jacket was vintage what did that make of him? He was far more dated. In fact he was getting annoyed. He didn't get annoyed often, but Mrs. Lockwood was behaving quite badly. No wonder she was going from husband to husband. No one would be sane (or desperate) enough to stay married to her!

"Oh just leave it, I'll pack myself"

she snapped. Then shooed Carlisle out of her room and continued packing her things. Carlisle wanted to say something harsh, but bit his tongue. He opened he heavy door and he was prepared to walk back downstairs. He was shocked to see at the end of the landing was some sort of cloaked figure.

It was hooded. The cloak and hood seemed quite familiar. He couldn't see its face, but as it could see his, as soon as the hooded figure saw him, it began charging towards him.

"Oh my goodness!"

Carlisle yelled and he slammed the door shut

"What is it?"

Carol asked. Loud thuds began pounding on the door; the handle was being moved;

"What is it?!"

Carol barked in a tone that would make Richard Lockwood and her son proud.

"It's the bloody killer, that's what it is you stupid woman"

Carlisle said fed up

"Quick, find me something to lock this door with"

he ordered her

"Shouldn't you go out there and fight it?"

she grumbled as she walked towards the heavy antique dresser and tried to push it to him

"I'm a pacifist"

Carlisle said simply and took hold of the dresser pulling it in front of the door. The thuds were getting louder and louder; the dresser provided the support they needed

"Who is it?"

asked Mrs. Lockwood as she held her hand where her heart was

"I don't know, it's hooded"

The thuds continued for several more seconds, until suddenly they stopped. Mrs. Lockwood gasped

"I need to get out of here..."

she said, she turned round and continued to pack her belongings. Carlisle kept his eyes firmly on the door...

Caroline couldn't find the others, it was Jasper's idea to split up and now she couldn't see any of them. She was at the front of the house and couldn't see anyone. Maybe they'd gone back inside? She walked back up the steps of the porch and slowly looked around her. The killer could be anywhere! She opened the door to Tudor Mansion slowly and shouted

"Anyone here?"

Silence filled the house, the kind of silence that Caroline hated - this was scary enough without people disappearing on her. The size of the mansion was making the situation worse, there must have been at least 30 rooms in the Mansion and Jasper, Edward and the killer could have been in any of them.

She knew Bella had gone to the kitchen, so Caroline decided to make her way there; she slowly checked the dining room before she entered - as she moved quickly through to the Kitchen, she was greeted by a little kitchenette and some steps - is that where the kitchen was? Down those steps; Caroline glanced around her and slowly walked down the stairs.

She walked down and as Caroline stepped into the kitchen she gasped! Lying on the floor was nothing short of a blood bath - The Butler and Jasper were sprawled out covered in blood and something gellish looking. Caroline couldn't move. Tears began flooding through and down her cheeks as she glared at the bodies. Suddenly, she screamed...

The scream pierced through house; Mrs. Lockwood recognized the voice, it was Caroline's.

"That's Caroline!"

she gasped; she ran towards the door and moved the dresser out the way. Despite her numerous flaws, Carol liked to think herself as a decent person and she had promise3d Caroline's mother she would keep an eye on the teenager.

She rushed outside to find nothing! The killer wasn't there, she wasn't sure what he'd look like, but she couldn't see anybody around, so it was safe for her. As she reached the top of the stairs, she glanced back at her room to wait for the golden eyes.

"Hurry up!"

She barked as Carlisle ran slowly after her. a thud was heard and then a scream. Behind her, Carlisle fell into the wall creating a door to the lavatory behind it. He was joined by someone hooded and cloaked on the landing. The Reverend had fallen to the floor and gasped

"God have mercy!"

he begged as the hooded figure raised it's hand and began striking him with what looked like an old wrench, it's nozzle gleaming at the overhead lights. Mrs. Lockwood let out a gentle scream; the blonde's head had been torn off and rolled down the stairs until it reached her, facing down

"Useless vampire"

she admonished it and the figure turned towards her. She began running downstairs, with it hot on her heels. As she reached the Tudor Mansion hallway, she bumped into Caroline

"Carol?!"

gasped Caroline. Mrs. Lockwood was happy to see her but there was no time

"Darling, he's behind us"

gasped Mrs. Lockwood as she grabbed the younger woman ushered her to run into the Living room. Caroline looked up the stairs and saw a cloaked figure, with a deathly pale face and scarlet red eyes marching down the stairs.

"Can you imagine how amusing it'll be if it falls?"

Caroline wondered out loud before carol pushed her and they ran through the living room and through the door at the other end of the room. They were in some sort of bar, Caroline flung the door shut and placed a chair in front of the door handle so it couldn't open. Rationally she was certain the chair wouldn't hold but logic had fled the building

The thuds on the door were similar to the ones that Mrs. Lockwood heard upstairs in her room

"Thank goodness you're okay darling"

Carol sighed and poured herself a stiff drink

"You heard my scream?"

Caroline asked before taking the drink as Carol poured a second glass and nodded

"I saw Jasper and the Butler. They've been butchered"

"Darn, those cold ones really do die easily. I thought they were supposed to be stronger than you"

Carol remarked in a detached tone as she finished her second drink and poured herself another. Caroline scrunched up her hair in her hands. This whole thing was too much for her. Everything she had ever read on Cold ones supported Carol's words. If the strong (and military) vampires were killed, what hopes did she have? She was too busy ogling Stefan's ass in his jeans instead of learning how to defend herself in their "**How to be a vampire in 10 days**" lessons in the woods. If it wasn't for Elena being there as a guard, they would be creating the monster with two backs, Caroline thought acidly at her old friends

"We need to get out of here, okay?"

Carol brought her to the present. Caroline agreed. As Mrs. Lockwood spoke, something caught her eye; there was an old telephone in the corner of the room

"Look, a phone..."

she said as she walked towards it. Caroline felt a sudden rush flow through her; she hoped they could call for help although she doubted the cops would be useful. She realized that the thudding on the door had stopped, meaning the killer had gotten bored, or was looking for another way in to them.

Carol lifted up the phone and as Caroline waited for her to start dialing, she saw her looking to the side of the table the phone was placed on.

"Oh..."

"What is it?"

"The wires have been cut"

Someone had either used scissors or a knife, but the wires for the phone looked like they had been cut.

"Jesus Christ someone really has planned to kill us"


	8. Letters and Writings

Chapter 8 - Letters and Writings

The door to the library creaked open; Bella wasn't sure what she was expecting behind the door. She was out of breath and instead of running out of the house; her feet led her upstairs like in all horror films

The library was dark; the sweet smell of books was distinctive as she stepped inside and closed the door gently. The library was fairly large, neat and dark.

The library was her favorite place in the mansion and she longed to grab a book and curl on the window seat. Except there was a nuts job out to kill them all.

Her eyes fell on the big desk under the other window. It was a mess with papers upon papers scattered around.

"What the..."

Probably the Butler was looking for something earlier but... would he leave such a mess? Maybe one of he guests had been in there earlier. Stepping forward she walked to the desk, turned on the antique lamp, tried the phone, it was cut as expected. Her fingers itched to go through the papers and she was never able to not follow her instincts.

Sitting in the big leather chair she began sorting. it was a bunch of documents, notes, graphs with a few random letters. Each was labeled by numbers; Bella was holding number 7 and 16; she looked through the papers in hope of finding the 1st; she found number 2, the first seemed to have completely disappeared. The second appeared to be a letter from some board game producers. She frowned and began reading.

"Dear Mr. Boddy,

Thank you for submitting us your board game and your ideas. The premise is not original but your twist feels very real and the board has a uniqueness the public will love. The only issue is with the characters. When creating a board game which relies on characters, we want the players to be the characters. the ones you submitted were quite bland and boring. The title is also very bold; we like the idea of it being called "Murder!"

Like we said, the idea is fantastic, the fact you based the Mansion on your home is also original; but the characters are boring, we need them to feel real, we need the characters of the game to be lifelike - base them on real people if you like, but change the names. We look forward to hearing from you soon Mr. Boddy,

Best regards"

Bella began reading the different sheets of paper. There were scribbling of the name; sketches of tea board which really seemed to be based on the mansion, ideas on the aim. Bella read through the aim of the game Mr. Boddy was inventing, it certainly was not original! In fact it seemed like a poor imitation of Clue with the exception of the characters. Instead of humans, the characters were all of supernatural species. Even the setting was similar. The owner of the mansion (human) gets killed and the rest of the players are suspects. Witches, vampires, fairies, cold ones, werewolves, shifters, everything she could imagine about supernatural beings were there...

There were 8 pages of characters, a list of traditional weapons found in every home, random notes. A cold feeling overtook her as she read the weapons list

Weapons: Dagger - Candlestick - Lead Pipe - Revolver - Rope - Spanner

She was just attacked with the dagger sticking out of the Butler's neck. Mike had been strangled with rope. According to Caroline, Klaus had a piece of a lead pipe sticking out of his chest.

"roh oh"

She whispered, a dark idea forming in the back of her mind. As she leafed through the character sheets the idea got stronger and stronger

**Professor Edward Masen** = curator at Museum. Cold one feeding on humans. Can hear thoughts (=must find a solution for that) no one will miss him

**Miss Caroline Forbes** = aspiring actress. Vampire. Not too smart. flirty.

**Major Jasper Whitlock** = Former soldier. Has fought in the civil war and the vampire wars. Tortured by it. Selfless but not easy to manipulate. Cold one. Feeds from humans. can sense and manipulate emotions

**Reverend Carlisle Cullen** = Vicar in England. Has found a way to not feed from humans (=true?). Likes to preach about his ways. Cold one.

**Mrs. Carol Lockwood** = Human. Likes marrying into money and becoming a widow soon after that. Manipulative. (a good opposite of both the Rev and the Major).

**Doctor Klaus Mikaelson** = vampire/werewolf hybrid. Original. Daddy issues.

*Extras - non playable*

**Mike Newton** = Gardener. Human.

**The Butler** = Wizard. Knows all the secrets and will die to protect them

**Bella Swan** = human cook. Must make her older in the game. silent brain (to be opposite of the mind reader)

Along the top of each character sheet were photographs of the guests. The words "**Victims/Suspects**" written next to it.

"Jesus Christ..."

muttered Bella covering her mouth with a hand. The scary thought had formed i her mind and the realization had sunk in. her suspicion was confirmed, Mr. Boddy, the elusive owner whom she hadn't seen she was little, was responsible for the deaths of Tudor Mansion. The reason seemed to be a really stupid one as well. He was trying to make his board game lifelike.

But why would he go to such extreme lengths? The Mr. Boddy she remembered was quirky but the person who had put this information together was clearly insane.

"So much for mike, the Butler and me being NPCs"

she muttered and folded the papers together to stick them in the purse. These things were going to be important to the cops although...

"How can you kill supernatural, slash, already dead people? How can you be blamed for killing supernatural, slash, already dead people?"

Running a hand over her face, she exhaled forcefully and left the library. She needed to find the others. The hallway was deadly quiet, not a sound besides her own heartbeat. Bella had no idea what to do, didn't know where to look for the others.

"Hello?"

she shouted, hoping that one of the survivors would appear from around a corner. It worked on B rated horror flicks and it worked now! Mrs. Lockwood and Caroline suddenly emerged from the door on the other side of the living room.

"Bella!"

shouted Caroline. The blonde vampire ran towards her and flung her arms around Bella squeezing. Bella frowned at the display of affection but hugged her back.

"You're alright"

the relief in her voice made Bella look at the floor.

"Are you two alright?"

she asked. Mrs. Lockwood nodded and Caroline returned from around Bella's neck.

"Yeah, we were chased into there..."

said Caroline pointing at the door she had just emerged from.

"What? By who?"

"By the killer..."

Mrs. Lockwood said simply.

"Who is it?"

Caroline shook her head at Bella's question.

"He wore a mask and a hood and a cloak"

Bella nodded. Mr. Boddy then wore the whole getup with them too. Bella wasn't surprised, she was sure Mr. Boddy would want to hide his identity somehow in case any of them made it. Speaking of which

"The Butler, and Major Whitlock are dead"

If they were surprised to the news, neither woman showed it.

"So is Reverend Cullen"

Mrs. Lockwood informed her.

"The Reverend was bludgeoned and beheaded by that... that... murdering... thing"

stuttered Mrs. Lockwood. Bella nodded thinking of the ticks on the weapons list. Normal objects could kill humans but combined with the werewolf tooth she lost... she licked her lips and spoke

"About that, I think I know who the killer is"

Caroline and Mrs. Lockwood leaned forward with anticipation. Bella pulled out the folded pieces of paper from the purse slung across her body and began unfolding them

"Look"

she said when suddenly, darkness fell on the hallway. Everything was pitch black, except for the light orange effect from the living room fire.

"What's that?!"

gasped Mrs. Lockwood; all three of them glanced upwards as though waiting for the roof to cave in on them.

"Power's gone..."

said Caroline and Bella rolled her eyes .

"Like in all horror flicks, someone flipped off the power switch"

A door creaked open from the Living room; all three spun round and standing at the end of the living room was the cloaked figure. Caroline began to scream and Mrs. Lockwood said something that Bella's mind was already in the process of doing

"RUN!"


	9. The Maze Runner

Chapter 9 - The Maze Murder

Caroline wasn't sure where she was going to run. She made for the stairs and didn't think about the others. She was on the landing deciding that to get away from the killer, she'd have to go to the third floor and jump. She was a vampire; of course she'd live but the killer wouldn't.

Her legs carried on running and up to the third floor she went. She turned slightly to see if anyone was behind her. Bella was and she was shouting something but Caroline was so preoccupied she couldn't hear what.

Grabbing Bella's hand Caroline ran faster, almost blurring in the background as she used her full vampire speed. At the third floor landing Caroline ran in a room and slammed the door shut. Bella, utterly woozy, fell backwards on the bed and tried to stop the world from spinning. Unsuccessfully

"Carol ran outside!"

Caroline said panicked

"Made more sense than us gung upstairs too"

Bella said without moving.

"Did the killer go after her?"

Caroline gasped for breath. Bella turned to look at the blurry blonde image and tried not to nod

"I didn't see"

she replied instead. She hoped Carol was alright but the truth was she didn't hold too much hope. Humans were mincemeat in a game meant to kill vampires.

"So who's doing this?"

asked Caroline and flopped on the bed, making Bella groan again feeling bile rise on her throat. Caroline winced

"Oops, sorry"

she leaned over the human, looked her straight in the eyes and commanded her to overcome the nausea. Bella's eyes flicked as the command worked on her brain and then ultimately failed as the remains of her salad dinner did come up her throat with her falling over the bathroom toilet

"Thanks for the transport even if the eyes-wide-open thing didn't work"

she said washing her mouth and letting Caroline lay her on the bed again. Caroline nodded and repeated her question sitting next to her. Bella had completely forgotten that she hadn't gotten round to telling her about Mr. Boddy's board game. Wordlessly she handed her the papers and began explaining what she knew.

Carol could hear the sound of footsteps behind her, the killer was chasing her! The night sky was pitch black and Carol had no idea where she was running. She saw a small building at the left of the Tudor Mansion grounds - she ran to the door and tried getting in, but it was locked. She turned to see the killer was still heading towards her. Was it stupid? Possibly, but the only place she could run was through the green shrubs to the side of the small building.

As she ran she realized that this wasn't just a set of tree's, this was a maze of some sort...a maze?! Carol had no time to try and think about a way to get out of some maze; she began searching frantically, turning corners upon corners hoping the killer didn't know the grounds either.

She stopped for a moment, hoping to hear footprints of movement from the maze. Silence fell for several minutes...had he given up? Suddenly, the silence was broke and Carol heard twigs snapping and branches breaking, as though someone was chopping their way through them. She looked around and tried to listen to where the sound was coming from.

it was from behind her, it was surely the killer trying to chop his way through the bushes to get to her. Carol's feet moved again, she had no idea where Caroline was, but she hoped her daughter would come into sight soon, she needed help here; it didn't help that she had such a long skirt on, it was proving impossible to try and run in her long blue dress.

Carol was getting frantic, she genuinely couldn't find her way out of the maze, she was lost, every corner she turned lead to another corner and she was sure she was going round in circles - she could go back the way she came in, but the fear of that...reaper look-alike waiting for her made her decide to stick to the route she was going. She continued to turn corner upon corner. she was hitting several dead ends and she could still hear the chopping of branches and twigs falling in the distance.

"Who has a maze in their garden anyway? Sure they look good but it's not like they provide anything else..."

she complained right before she saw a gap, it was a small gap, but she was nearly out, she could see the pathway she'd ran down when she came into the maze. She frantically ran towards the opening and found herself on the outside of the maze again, the exact way she came in.

"Thank God..."

whispered Carol, just as she was about to run towards the mansion, she noticed silence. Why had the branches stopped snapping? Carol turned slightly to listen. Nothing, no noise, no footsteps or anything. Then she glanced behind her

"Oh my god!"

he was there! The cloaked figure, grabbed hold of Mrs Lockwood's waist and threw her onto the floor and back into the maze. Mrs Lockwood tried to get away from him by crawling backwards. she was going back into the maze? NO! She was so close, she should have just used her feet and made it back to the house without any hesitation. Now she was going back into the maze again

It was very stupid. Carol felt if she turned around she'd be able to get back to her feet except the killer was walking towards her, very calmly. Carol tried to get to her feet. The killer wrapped his hand around her throat. he lifted her into the air. Carol tried to scream but she could only whisper

"No! Let me go!"

She begged;

"I can pay you loads of money; I can give you anything you want..."

She pleaded as the reaper threw her back on to the ground. Carol landed on her elbow and let out a whimper, she was convinced she'd damaged by landing on it like she did.

"Please... don't"

She said as she looked back at the killer; the cloaked figure was about to kill her, this was it...she couldn't do anything and nothing was going to save her. Tears began strolling down her perfect face. The Killer raised his hand in the air, Carol looked at what he was holding. it was a candlestick, he must have picked it up from the house when he was chasing them.

The murderer beat Carol to death.

The garden was silent now and no movement was heard from the maze or from the rest of the garden, even the owls that were so loud earlier had become silent, as though they were paying their last respects to the murdered Carol.


	10. Accusations

Chapter 10 - Accusations

Caroline couldn't believe her ears, so all what had happened was part of some man's obsession with having a successful board game? The whole point in this was so he could learn about the characters and make them be a hit?

What normal person would do that? A light bulb popped in her mind. Liz, her mother, had told her something that might actually be useful in real life

"Is there a computer in here? One that connects to the internet preferably"

Bella thought for a moment and then nodded

"I have a laptop but it's broken... there is a computer in the library though. Why?"

"My mom told me something. I think if we can get to the computer we can call for help"

Bella blinked. she3 wasn't very internet savvy herself but...

"The phones are cut off. Don't we need them?"

Caroline shrugged twisting a blond tendril around her fingers. What did they have to lose? Stuffing the papers in her bag again, the pair of them slowly walked out of it, holding hands like snow white and ruby red.

They went downstairs and slowly stepped into the Tudor Mansion hall. Bella looked at Caroline and whispered

"You check the dining room, I'll check the living room, and we'll tackle the basement together"

"What are we looking for?"

Jesus this girl's mind worked in spurts only!

"The main switch power. The same Mr. Boddy turned off earlier, remember?"

She explained and Caroline nodded. Bella hoped she had seen one before as they parted. She headed to the living room holding one hand against the wall as guide.

Caroline felt uneasy about being alone, but she couldn't exactly say anything - she was supposed to be the strongest. The sooner they got away the better. She entered the Dining room, thankful for being able to see in the dark and scanned the tops of the living room to see if there was a box or something. there was nothing, she couldn't see anything that may even look like it could be connected to the power; that being said, she wasn't sure what exactly she was looking for.

She took one last final glance around her and hurriedly made her way to the living room where Bella was. the brunette human girl was trailing both hands on the smooth wallpaper.

"Nothing!"

She whispered; Bella looked at her general direction and shook her head before going to her

"Nothing here, either..."

Taking Caroline's hand and keeping the other against the walls, she led her slowly down to the kitchen and then down another set of stairs to the basement. that room was big, dark and as soon as they entered it, Bella seemed to know where to go.

On the far end, a large box was on the wall. Opening it, Bella fumbled around until she found a wheel like thingy until a clasping sound was heard and they were bathed in bright light. Their steps were lighter as they returned to the ground floor and Caroline wet straight to the bar to get a drink.

No sooner than the burning liquid hit their throats, the glass door to Caroline's left flung open. Caroline screamed

"**WAIT**! It's just me"

Edward Masen said raising both hands.

"Where the hell have you been all this time?"

asked Bella; it was strange that no one had heard of Edward for so long. Especially with the mind reading thing his character sheet boasted.

"I've been looking for you guys, I think I found a way out"

He said innocently. Too innocently for Bella's liking

"Oh really, well half of us are dead...er"

she said watching his face intently for a reaction. Edward's face changed

"What?"

The shocked look on his face was convincing but not convincing enough for Caroline who slid on a stool between him and the human. Cold one (whatever that meant) or not, two were better than one.

"So why is that we've all been together and most of us have died, yet you've been alone"

Caroline trailed

"Easy pray"

added Bella

"...and yet you're still alive-ish?"

Caroline finished. Edward shrugged;

"I have no idea?"

he said nervously. Caroline's thoughts were a mess of accusations and he looked at the human but once again no thoughts floated from that one. How to play it?

"Oh come on, do you really think I'm responsible here?"

he asked frantically.

"I found Klaus's body"

"Exactly!"

Caroline interrupted before he could begin complaining about the gruesome sight again

"You walk off and suddenly, he's dead..."

She stated. She had a point. Bella was inching slowly towards the big glass of scotch Caroline had poured her. It wouldn't hurt him but maybe it could buy them some time to get away if he tried to attack them.

If the whiny vampire with the creepy eyes was working with Mr. Boddy, she didn't want to be pray again.

"What's your relation to Mr. Boddy?"

She asked. The character sheet had him dying in 1918, not too far in the past for him to be some sort of ancestor to Mr. Boddy.

"Who?"

asked Edward. Confusion was written across his face.

"Mr. Boddy, the person who owns Tudor Mansion?"

said Caroline sarcastically. Edward looked at both of them

"Look...I don't know what to say, but I'm not a killer..."

said Edward, his voice began cracking, as though he was under enormous amounts of pressure.

"Save it!"

said Bella; he walked to the door and opened it

"We have a way out of here now. You can explain yourself to the cops. I don't know how things are n your world, but in the real ones we put murderers of humans behind bars"

Caroline stayed with Edward. She didn't trust him one bit

"It's over Edward..."

"I swear...I"

Caroline shook her head

"Save it!"

she growled

"Come here"

Bella called out. Caroline grabbed Edward's jacket and pulled him through the living room and into the hallway. She then walked through the small door which leads into the library.

"So this is where you found the information"

she said as she looked around. She released Edward and he stood firmly still in front of her

"And here's the computer"

said Bella and he switched it on. Caroline caught Edward glancing at the open door, so she flung it shut

"Don't even think about it..."

The computer loaded and Caroline sat down and clicking and tapping at the keyboard

"Listen...you're both making a huge mistake..."

Edward shook as he spoke seeing utterly lost. Suddenly Bella began having doubts. Either this guy was one hell of an actor or he was about to piss himself scared.

"Are we?"

Caroline taunted without taking her eyes of the screen and the browser she had opened

"Yes..."

said Edward, trembling and quivering

"I haven't...I swear... I couldn't kill anyone...I'm...I'm not a killer..."

"You're a vampire; killing is part of the process"

Caroline said as exasperated as Bella was earlier. For a moment, Bella felt sorry for Edward. Caroline saw it in her face

"Shut it"

She ordered him and a clattering noise was heard

"What was that?!"

asked Edward. Bella looked at the ceiling

"It sounded like it was coming from upstairs, it could be Carol Lockwood"

She mused but Edward was fast to open the door and ran to the hallway. lying on the floor was

"Klaus?!"

gasped Caroline who had abandoned her work and followed Edward. She rushed to his aid, the Doctor was moving - he was alive!

"W...w...I was...attacked..."

he said, the words were struggling to leave his mouth. Bella joined them. hadn't jasper said he had been staked? Didn't stakes kill vampires or was that just on TV?

"Take it easy, you're going to be alright..."

Caroline helped the light haired man to his feet.

"What's going on? I saw the Reverend...he's...dead..."

said Doctor Klaus, the confusion was sweeping through him and came out in his words as he spoke.

"We'll explain later, just hang on in there..."

Bella slipped under his other arm and both women supported him inside the library and set him on a plush armchair.

"Edward..."

"Thank god you're alright my friend..."

Edward responded. Bella's eyes went from vampire to vampire as Caroline leaned forwards and into Edward's face

"Don't talk to him, you have no right!"

She barked. Bella continued his clicking and typing on the computer.

"What's going on?"

said Doctor Klaus as he got to his feet

"Why the hostility towards Edward?"

His speech had cleared up.

"Long story short, this freak has been on a murderous rampage... He's the one who attacked you"

Caroline accused over Bella's cautious tone.

"Why Edward...that's very horrible...indeed"

said Doctor Klaus, his voice had changed; Caroline looked at Doctor Klaus who now was holding a gun.

"Oh my god!"

she gasped as he held up the revolver towards Professor Masen.

"What are you doing?!"

A pull of the trigger late and Edward Masen fell to the floor. Some sort of transparent liquid began pouring out of his head where the bullet had pierced his skull.

Bella gasped and saw as the gun pointed towards her. Another pull of the trigger and a hissing sounded behind her. The computer screen was destroyed.

"You can't be Mr. Boddy... who are you?"

Bella asked. Klaus grinned at her

"My how big have you gotten little Isabella"

He taunted. Of course. Vampires don't age and if the "Mr. Boddy" of her childhood was one he'd still be young. And kinda cute. And insane.

"The better to eat me now?"

She asked. Caroline went to her and the two held hands again

"Yes, but not yet! I like my humans as dessert"

Klaus/Mr. Boddy said as he held the gun towards Caroline


	11. The Killer Revealed

Chapter 11 - The Killer Revealed

"You're Mr Boddy?"

asked Caroline, she was confused, he was introduced to her as Klaus? Mr Boddy smiled

"Has it not sunk in yet?"

He asked Caroline in a patronizing manor.

"Yes, I'm Mr. Boddy..."

He confirmed as he continued to keep the gun pointing at both of them

"But the staff would have recognized you"

"The staff my little blonde know about my secret"

"Which is why they were all replaced"

Bella breathed.

"Mike and I have never net you and Andrew... He'd take your secret to the grave. Like my grandmother"

"He did"

said the murderer as he cocked his head to the side slightly

"I couldn't just arrive as myself; I had to figure out a persona. Someone I could... play whilst this event planned out"

"But why not just be yourself? Why not pretend that Mr. Boddy was murdered?"

Caroline asked

"Because in order for me to learn about my characters, I had to create Doctor Klaus. I couldn't be in the game myself. I wasn't allowed"

barked Mr. Boddy.

"All this...Just so your board game would be successful?"

Caroline said twirling a lock of hair around her fingers nervously

"Do you know what it's like being the son of someone who constantly tries to make you be like him? Do you know what it's like to have your father barking in your ear, screaming at you that you'll never amount to anything?!"

said Mr. Boddy, getting more hysterical by the question. His words stirred an old memory in Bella. Something, a bedtime story, her grandmother had told her once

"My Father was disappointed in me"

"So you did this because of your Daddy, didn't like how mommy dearest got pregnant by the wrong person?"

Bella asked causing him to point the gun at her

"I wish...I wish that my Father was like your Mother... Renee abandoned you here. Straight to the wolf's hands. I wish my Father had done the same to me"

said Mr. Boddy, he was positively hysterical at this point; Bella decided to take matters in his own hand at this point.

"Oh for God's sake grow a pair!"

"Bella!"

Caroline admonished. Bella ignored her

"Unless the story I head was the wrong one, Mikael had no issue with you besides you being a little too much like your bio-dad. It was his idea to have you all turned after Henrik died. Besides you deserved it"

Mr. Boddy faced Bella, he looked beyond outraged, he eyes went bloodshot and his face was looking even more scarlet by the second. He walked over to Bella slowly with the revolver in the air as though he was about to use that final weapon in his sick imaginary board game -

"What did you say?"

"I said you deserved it. You knew full well what full moon did t the werewolves and yet you took Henrik to their caves. What exactly did you expect to happen?"

Bella finished refusing to look or feel threatened. Although the fact that Mr. Boddy now placed the gun on Bella's forehead made the uneasy feeling consume her.

Caroline didn't know what to do, Mr. Boddy must have been an inch away from firing that gun through Bella's skull and there was nothing she could do about it. She quickly glanced around looking for something she could do to make him stop but there was nothing, her mind was a total blank and she couldn't exactly concentrate because she was listened to the heated words said between Bella and Mr. Boddy.

"I was a good son, everything I ever did was to try and impress my Father..."

shouted Mr. Boddy, his mouth was practically in Bella's face. Caroline saw it! The small lampshade in the corner, she could use that, she could quickly swap it towards Mr. Boddy and hope it staked him.

"He was the bad Father, so don't you dare tell me that I was a bad son because I know I wasn't!"

he yelled in Bella's face. As silence consumed the room, Bella began talking back to him, snapping that he wasn't his father. Enraging him more to buy Caroline some time.

the blonde ran towards the lampshade and grabbed it. as she spun round with the lampshade in her hand he was staring at her. she charged towards him with the lampshade like a javelin. Bella used her knees to buckle Klaus' knees and force him to fall to his knees.

The revolver he had dropped out of his hand and fell somewhere out of sight. Caroline thrust the lampshade hitting him somewhere in his stomach.

Mr. Boddy shouted in pain and Bella ran towards the door calling for Caroline to do the same. She tried to follow him but felt a hand wrap round her ankle making her fall face first onto the floor. Mr. Boddy pulled the lampshade off his chest and crawled over her

"You weren't supposed to live this long Miss Forbes!"

He snarled as he began strangling her. Then he grunted as his face connected with Bella's foot. She had kicked him. The vampire was stronger though and soon Bella was a heap on the floor.

Klaus then looked towards Caroline and walked over to her - he was clearly annoyed that she had caused the scuffle; it must have been going well from Mr. Boddy's point of view. As Mr. Boddy came close, Caroline froze

He grabbed hold of Caroline's neck again. He must have a strangle fetish, she thought. Instead of strangling her though Mr. slammed Caroline's face against the wall.


	12. Breaking the Compulsion

Chapter 12 – Breaking the compulsion

Bella came to it slowly and watched as Caroline's body fell to the floor. She was blinking rapidly as she tried to stand first on her knees ad then upright holding onto the back of an armchair for support.

"All this just to impress a man that doesn't give two fucks about you?"

Mr. Boddy's eyes widened and he glared at Bella.

"No!"

"You just said..."

She shook her head trying to clear it off the cobwebs"

"I've spent a thousand years running from him. Now he has to admit I'm smarter and leave me alone!"

"You killed a busload of people to prove you're smarter... no you moron, you killed them because you're a psychotic, murdering, selfish bastard!"

Bella yelled. He didn't care any more. He had already decided to kill her as well so let him just get on with it. Mr. Boddy moved his coat to one side and pulled out a dagger! He charged towards Bella and stopped short when she didn't move

"You're supposed to run"

He said helpfully

"I've been running for hours. I'm tired. You want to kill me, go right ahead. You'll still have lost"

She announced climbing over Caroline to sit on the sofa. Mr. Boddy stood in front of her and raised the knife in the air. Bella looked unimpressed

"You've broken the rules. The plans and the weapons don't add up"

She stated Bella, counting on her finger for emphasis. Mr. Boddy blinked several times, thinking through what Bella had just said

"It doesn't matter..."

He shouted

"You're the last to die!"

"Except the servants aren't meant to die dummy. We're not even supposed to be playable. You used all your weapons once. Now you'll either have to break the rules again like you did with goldilocks over there, or admit defeat, set the players on starting positions and try again"

Klaus glared. Bella smirked

"I win"

She winked

"Again"


End file.
